224

AUCKLAND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

ant subject of Public Works, would not, in all
probability, have sufficed to gain for it such a con-
sideration as would materially have strengthened
the position of the Province in the matter; they have
therefore taken upon themselves the responsibility of
preparing and submitting to your Honor such a
Scheme of Public Works and Immigration as in their
opinion is calculated to advance the interests of the
Province, and is likely to command the approbation
of the Council at its next session.

4. By means of the railway between Auckland
   and the Waikato frontier, nearly the whole of the
   country South of the Provincial capital open, or likely
   for some time to be open for settlement, will be pro-
   vided with cheap and speedy communication with
   Auckland. The amount asked for on account of
   Thames Water Supply will, it is hoped, prove suffi-
   cient for the purpose, and by providing an abundant
   supply of good water, remove one of the most
   serious obstacles to the full development of the Gold-
   field. Should the cost of the work prove greater,
   however, than that contemplated, the Executive would
   still be prepared to urge the construction of the
   works, the additional cost of which, might be pro-
   vided by the curtailment of the scheme now submitted
   to your Honor in some other direction.

5. The large area over which settlement has ex-
   tended in this Province, and the peculiarly difficult
   character of much of the country, has at all times
   rendered the question of public works a difficult
   one when an attempt has been made to deal with
   such works as parts of a great whole and not
   merely as small local efforts at improvement.
   For this reason, the Executive feel that any scheme
   which confined itself to the construction of a Rail-
   road to the Waikato and a water supply to the
   Thames would be most unjust to other parts of
   the Province, ignoring, as it would, the claims and
   grievances of the North, and wholly overlooking
   the existence of the important settlement at Poverty
   Bay.

The position of settlers in the Northern
districts of the Province, has for years been one of
great hardship, if not of considerable injustice. The
expenditure connected with the Native war of 1863,
while it benefitted and opened up the Southern
districts of the Province, was worse than useless to
the North. Its districts were too often deserted by
its settlers, who were tempted to the neighbour-
hood of the Provincial Capital by the ephemeral
prosperity introduced by the war expenditure. Its
farms were left uncultivated, owing to the high price
of labour near Auckland, and the many induce-
ments which led its settlers to seek success in some
career—civil or military—less toilsome and more
profitable than that of bush farming. Even the
cessation of hostilities did nothing for the North,
as the opening of the Waikato with its greater accessi-
bility turned the stream of capital and labour in that
direction, and away from the Northern districts. The
Provincial Half-million Loan, while it improved the
City and Harbour of Auckland, bridged the Tamaki,
erected large public buildings, and partially constructed
the Auckland and Drury Railway, did nothing for the
North beyond introducing a number of assisted im-
migrants. Some of these immigrants, no doubt,
found their way into the Northern districts, but
owing to the absence of all means of communica-
tion, and to the inferior land on which, in most
cases they were located, very few have become
permanent settlers. It is not, indeed, too much to
say, that ever since a revenue has been raised in this
Province, available for Public Works, the Northern
districts have received the scantiest justice in com-
parison with other parts of the Province; and the
result is, that the macadamized roads which extend
some forty miles to the south, are found to cease
wholly within seven miles to the North of Auck-
land. This is the more remarkable, because for
many years the North furnished the principal ex-
ports of the Province; while even at present, it con-
tains, besides a large and peaceful Native popula-
tion—not less than 12,000 inhabitants, or one-third
of the population of the Province, exclusive of the in-
habitants of the City and Goldfields. These con-
siderations appear to demand, in any Provincial
Scheme of Public Works, that a generous recognition
should be given to the wants and claims of the
North.

6. The character of the country north of Auckland,
   as well as the circumstances of its ownership, appear
   to call for a different policy in relation to public
   works from the southern districts of the Province.
   In the north, European settlement of a partial and
   very scattered character extends for a distance of about
   180 miles from Auckland, and is generally confined
   to a narrow fringe of settlement which on the eastern
   coast borders the sea, and on the west the waters
   of the Kaipara and Hokianga Estuaries, with their
   tributary rivers. The general character of the country
   is broken, hilly, and densely wooded, and a large
   proportion of the land is still in the hands of native
   owners, although the title to very much of it has
   been individualized through the agency of the Native
   Lands Court. In the present state of settlement,
   any extensive system of railroads through the north
   would be manifestly impossible. It is doubtful
   whether a practicable line could be obtained from
   Auckland to the Bay of Islands, even were it con-
   ceivable that sound policy could dictate a line of
   railroad extending about 130 miles through a
   country scarcely settled, and much of it unfit for
   settlement. The only railway work which the Executive
   would be prepared to recommend for the north at
   present is an extension of the line about to be under-
   taken by the Province to connect the waters of the
   Kaipara and Waitemata with Auckland. The distance
   from Auckland to a point near the southern terminus
   of the Kaipara railroad line would not exceed 18
   miles, and when it is considered that the cost
   would not be likely greatly to exceed £60,000,
   while the result would be to give a direct con-
   nection with Auckland to all the settlements on
   the Kaipara Estuary and its tributary rivers, it
   can hardly be doubted that the undertaking would
   be of the greatest practical benefit to the
   country as a whole. Perhaps the largest extent of
   really fine land in the Province, is to be found in
   the district between the Wairoa river—where it bends
   Eastward—and the Awanui river to the North of
   the settlement of Mangonui. This land is chiefly
   volcanic, and lies in rich, but not deep, valleys,
   characterized by great richness of soil and mildness
   of climate. It is comprised within a district ex-
   tending for about 70 miles in length, by a varying
   breadth of from 10 to 20 miles, and is nearly all
   in the hands of native owners; but there is little,
   if any doubt, that much of it could easily be pur-
   chased at fair, although not at excessively low rates.

7. The proposals, therefore, of the Executive with
   reference to the application of the Loan to the
   Northern districts, would consequently comprise
   the following divisions: First—the construction of
   the Railway line, already mentioned, from Auck-
   land to the point of junction with the Kaipara Railway,
   for which a sum of £60,000 would be necessary.
   Secondly—the acquisition of as much of the good
   land in the North, and especially in the district already
   referred to, as possible. This could not be done,
   it is believed, but at a cost—including surveys, &c.—
   of about six shillings per acre, which, however,